Photo: Caitlin Wilder Photography<\/p>\n
Fin Leary Highlights\u00a0Book Bans and Writing for Everyone During TransWeek<\/p>\n
by James Judd<\/p>\n
Putting your life as a trans person online is a radical act in modern America\u2014a reality that author\/educator\/activist Fin Leary has had to confront since a video he posted on TikTok went viral. Meant for his circle of followers, the video of his progress on HRT, a gender-affirming hormone therapythat helps align a person\u2019s physical characteristics with their gender identity, was circulated by\u00a0anti-trans social media accounts. For Leary, who has built a career helping others tell their own stories, the discomfort caused by that collision between visibility and vulnerability is nothing new.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time you come out to someone, or even just show up as an ally, you start practicing that discomfort,\u201d says Leary. But Leary is determined to be out and proud regardless of how it affects him in the moment. \u201cEvery time somebody sees an image of who they could be, a glimpse of the life they could have, it frees them\u2014and it frees all of us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A 2024 Lambda Literary Emerging LGBTQ+ Voices Fellow, Leary teaches writing at Emerson College and GrubStreet. The New York Times,\u00a0Good Housekeeping,\u00a0Teen Vogue,\u00a0The Boston Globe Magazine, and\u00a0The Washington Post, among others have published his work. It\u2019s a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that reflects Leary\u2019s commitment to fostering collective empowerment for the entire LGBTQ community. He\u2019ll be leading a writing workshop titled \u201cWe Need Trans Books\u201d for participants in this year\u2019s TransWeek, and also will appear at East End Books Ptown for a reading of his short story collection These Bodies Ain\u2019t Broken, which is open to the public without registering for TransWeek.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I was queer when I was a young child, and everyone around me seemed to know that too,\u201d he says. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter how hard I tried to hide it\u2014people could always tell. Folks were already bullying me for an identity I hadn\u2019t even fully accepted. Around age 12, I realized people would know this about me whether I hid it or not. I had one choice: either fight it down or stand up against the idea that we should hide. I decided, they\u2019re going to think I\u2019m a freak no matter what I do, so the best thing I can do for the freaks is to be a freak\u2014loudly and beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n
Learyis a program manager at\u00a0We Need Diverse Books, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, that advocates for greater diversity and inclusion in children\u2019s and young adult literature. Pushing back against the censorship of queer writers and queer visibility is also central to his mission. PEN America, an organization committed to\u00a0the defense of freedom of expression worldwide, and the\u00a0leading national tracker\u00a0of book bans and educational censorship, has documented an unprecedented 23,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, including books dealing with trans issues or written by trans writers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are seeing this incredible rise in book bans, which would make you think there is a huge boom in trans books\u2014like they\u2019re everywhere,\u201d says Leary. But the impression is misleading. \u201cThe folks setting up these bans have seen a small rise in power and privilege for our community: the legalization of same-sex marriage, the ability to change gender markers on ID documents, slightly easier access to healthcare, and so on. Those small amounts of change have been scary to some people. That\u2019s definitely true when it comes to books, as well. Yes, we have more trans authors and trans books than we ever did\u2014at least in terms of out trans authors and canonically trans books\u2014but it\u2019s not necessarily an overwhelming majority or an incredibly huge rise.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m concerned that it will lead to increasing censorship and legislation against the LGBTQ+ community as a whole,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the reasons why I think it\u2019s so important to make sure that we\u2019re talking about it and fighting it early.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Effective pushback against censorship is possible, says Leary. \u201cWe need folks to remain outspoken on the other end of it: advocating for continuing to include books in collections, showing up to things like school board meetings if you are in an area where those are happening, to advocate in favor of keeping books in the collection.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leary is also autistic and is an advocate for autistic acceptance and inclusion. \u201cLike being bi or trans, being openly autistic is about disclosure,\u201d he says.\u00a0 \u201cEven with greater awareness and resources now, there\u2019s also a rise in ableist rhetoric. I talk about it to push back on that and to let young people know there\u2019s nothing wrong with how their brains work.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Leary, the TransWeek workshop will be a opportunity to bring awareness to folks who want to learn about trans literature, history, and authors, as well as offering some opportunities for attendees who are writers or who are interested in learning more about writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think everyone is a writer,\u201d says Leary. \u201cSometimes people come into a workshop or a writing class not feeling like a writer, but I think everyone is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hope is the ultimate takeaway Leary wants to give to his workshop attendees. \u201cHope is what those who want us gone don\u2019t want us to have,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the antidote to despair. If someone leaves my workshop feeling even a little more hopeful than when they arrived, that\u2019s everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fin Leary\u2019s writing workshop, open to TransWeek registrants, will be held in the Wave Bar at the Crown & Anchor on Monday, October 20, 3 p.m. For information and to register, visit transweek.org<\/a>. Leary will also be reading from These Bodies Ain\u2019t Broken on Monday, October 20, 5 p.m., at East End Books Ptown, 389 Commercial St. For more information call 508.413.7163 or visit eastendbooksptown.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: Caitlin Wilder Photography Fin Leary Highlights\u00a0Book Bans and Writing for Everyone During TransWeek by James Judd Putting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[457,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-201956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-books","tag-books","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}